WoW to FFXIV transition guide..

[Soukyuu]

Movement, I agree. Combat, though, I think is far more difficult with a controller.

It's not. It's just different.

In particular, selecting skills on the action bar by hitting LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT SELECT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT SELECT UP SELECT DOWN LEFT LEFT LEFT SELECT is really frustrating to me when I can just hit a few number keys instead.

Optimize you skill layout and you won't have to do it too often.
Animation lock is negating any advantage keyboard is giving you, except for having more free time.

[Keres]

It's not. It's just different.

Optimize you skill layout and you won't have to do it too often.

Entirely possible. I just know that for me, personally, I had a hard/frustrating time doing combat with a gamepad when I played that way. Not everyone may have those issues.

[Skies]

It's not. It's just different.

Optimize you skill layout and you won't have to do it too often.
Animation lock is negating any advantage keyboard is giving you, except for having more free time.

That is really, really a matter of prefference. My friends all play on controllers (one of them plays exclusively with the keyboard, no mouse) and it's kind of a worn out joke of mine saying something about controllers being bad.
In the end it really only matters regarding what the person is used to, I personally use a nostromo keypad and my mouse, move through the actions bars with the scrolling wheel, select actions with the mouse and that stuff. It's not about gaining performance, it's simply about what feels more comforable on my hands.

[Soukyuu]

That is really, really a matter of prefference.

Yes, in the end it is.

It's not about gaining performance, it's simply about what feels more comforable on my hands.

There are a few people who insist on gamepad players being subpar compared to keyboard players actually. So before we go either way with this, let's just say "try both, decide what is better for you".

I don't know why U'ldah is immune from this but it's the real reason people center there.

Ul'dah has multiple servers for each subarea, while Gridania and Limsa only have one server per subarea. Maybe SE even reduced server number for Grid & Limsa in favor of Uldah.